CART Online (March 15, 1998) -- MARLBORO GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI PRESENTED
BY TOYOTA No. 15 FedEx Championship Series Press Notes – Sunday, March
15, 1998
· At 1:33 p.m., the command "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" is given
by Mike Szymanczyk, President & CEO of Phillip Morris.
· At 1:42 p.m., the PPG Pace Car begins to roll with the starting grid
in tow.
· GREEN FLAG waves at 1:47 p.m. to start the Marlboro Grand Prix of
Miami.
· Lap 1 has #99 MOORE leading #3 RIBEIRO.
· Lap 2 has #1 ZANARDI already up to third from sixth and #6 ANDRETTI
up to fourth from his eighth-place starting position.
· Lap 10 has #99 MOORE leading #3 RIBEIRO by 3.385 seconds with #1
ZANARDI third.
· #1 ZANARDI takes over second from #3 RIBEIRO on Lap 18 when RIBEIRO
makes an unscheduled pit stop. #6 ANDRETTI moves into third.
· Lap 20 has #99 MOORE leading #1 ZANARDI, with #6 ANDRETTI third.
· Lap 30 has #99 MOORE leading #1 ZANARDI by 6.856 seconds with #6
ANDRETTI third.
· YELLOW FLAG waves on Lap 33 after #21 KANAAN makes contact with the
outside wall in Turn 4. The driver exits the car under his own power
as CART safety workers reach the car. The car sustains right side
damage and withdraws from the race.
· The lead pack pits under caution on Lap 33 and #1 ZANARDI exits the
pits in first place after a jack malfunction on #99 MOORE slows his
pit stop. MOORE re-enters the race in 15th place. #5 DE FERRAN moves
into second with #6 ANDRETTI in third. #33 CARPENTIER is in fourth
place and #11 FITTIPALDI is in fifth.
· Lap 40 has #1 ZANARDI leading #5 DE FERRAN under the caution flag.
· GREEN FLAG waves on Lap 44 as #5 DE FERRAN passes #1 ZANARDI as the
race restarts.
· #6 ANDRETTI passes #1 ZANARDI later in the lap to take second. DE
FERRAN is the only driver to lead the Grand Prix of Miami all three
years that it has been held at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports
Complex. PAUL TRACY is the only other driver that has a chance to
achieve that distinction today.
· Lap 50 has #5 DE FERRAN leading #6 ANDRETTI with #1 ZANARDI in
third.
· Lap 60 has #5 DE FERRAN leading #6 ANDRETTI with #1 ZANARDI in
third.
MARLBORO GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI PRESENTED BY TOYOTA No. 16 FedEx
Championship Series Press Notes – Sunday, March 15, 1998
· Lap 70 has #6 ANDRETTI leading #5 DE FERRAN and #1 ZANARDI. #27
FRANCHITTI has moved up from his 13th starting position to seventh.
· YELLOW FLAG waves on Lap 74 after #27 FRANCHITTI makes light contact
with the outside wall in Turn 2. The crew reports little if any damage
to the car after inspecting the car in the pit area. FRANCHITTI
returns to the race in 12th place.
· Lap 75, halfway through the race, has the top ten positions as #6
ANDRETTI leading #5 DE FERRAN, #1 ZANARDI, #11 FITTIPALDI, #33
CARPENTIER, #27 FRANCHITTI, #99 MOORE, #20 PRUETT, #2 UNSER JR. and
#40 FERNANDEZ.
· GREEN FLAG waves on Lap 81 with #5 DE FERRAN again leading #6
ANDRETTI and #1 ZANARDI.
· Lap 88 sees #19 JOURDAIN JR. withdraw from the race due to handling
problems.
· Lap 89 sees #25 PAPIS withdraw his car from the race due to a wheel
bearing problem.
· Lap 90 has #5 DE FERRAN leading #6 ANDRETTI by .926 seconds with #1
ZANARDI in third.
· Lap 97 sees #34 VITOLO withdraw from the race.
· YELLOW FLAG waves on Lap 99 after #16 CASTRO-NEVES makes contact
with the wall in Turn 2. The driver is uninjured but the car is too
damaged to continue and CASTRO-NEVES withdraws from the race. After a
series of pit stops, #1 ZANARDI emerges the leader with #6 ANDRETTI in
second and #99 MOORE in third.
· GREEN FLAG waves on Lap 106 to restart the race with #1 ZANARDI
leading #6 ANDRETTI.
· #6 ANDRETTI takes over first from #1 ZANARDI on Lap 108.
· Lap 110 has #6 ANDRETTI leading #1 ZANARDI and #99 MOORE.
· YELLOW FLAG waves on Lap 116 after #18 BLUNDELL makes contact with
the wall in Turn 2. BLUNDELL continues to his pit with little or no
damage to the car and returns to the race in 13th place.
· GREEN FLAG waves on Lap 121 with #6 ANDRETTI leading #1 ZANARDI and
#99 MOORE.
· Lap 122 sees #2 UNSER JR withdraw from the race with a transmission
problem.
MARLBORO GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI PRESENTED BY TOYOTA No. 17 FedEx
Championship Series Press Notes – Sunday, March 15, 1998
· YELLOW FLAG waves on Lap 122 after #24 MATSUSHITA makes contact with
the wall in Turn 2. MATSUSHITA’s car comes to rest on the backstretch
with damage to the right side of the car. The driver exits the car
under his own power.
· Lap 130 under a caution flag has #6 ANDRETTI leading #1 ZANARDI and
#99 MOORE.
· GREEN FLAG waves on Lap 139.
· On Lap 145, with five laps to go, #6 ANDRETTI leads #1 ZANARDI by
1.712 seconds with #99 MOORE in third.
· On Lap 146, with four laps to go, #99 MOORE passes to the inside of
#1 ZANARDI entering Turn 1 and takes over second place. #6 ANDRETTI
leads #99 MOORE by 1.673 seconds at the start-finish line.
· On Lap 147, with three laps to go, #6 ANDRETTI leads #99 MOORE by
1.623 seconds with #1 ZANARDI in third.
· On Lap 148, with two laps to go, #6 ANDRETTI leads #99 MOORE by
1.421 seconds with #1 ZANARDI in third.
· WHITE FLAG waves on Lap 149 with #6 ANDRETTI leading #99 MOORE by
1.058 seconds.
· CHECKERED FLAG waves on Lap 150 with #6 MICHAEL ANDRETTI winning the
Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota by .075 seconds over
second-place and fast-closing #99 GREG MOORE. #1 ALEX ZANARDI finishes
third, .843 seconds behind MOORE. Fourth place goes to #11 CHRISTIAN
FITTIPALDI and fifth place is claimed by #20 SCOTT PRUETT.
· The top three finishers were separated by .918 seconds at the
checkered flag. Twelve cars were on the lead lap at the finish with 20
cars still running at the end of the race. ANDRETTI covered the 150
lap distance in 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 44 seconds. There was 53
minutes, 42 seconds of green flag time. The yellow flag flew five
times for a total of 47 laps lasting a total of 41 minutes, 2 seconds.
· #6 ANDRETTI led the most laps with 63 among the four drivers to lead
the race. #5 DE FERRAN led 41 laps, #99 MOORE led 36 laps, and #1
ZANARDI led 10 laps.
· ALEX ZANARDI’S third-place finish represents his career-best finish
at Homestead. ZANARDI’s previous best finish here was seventh in 1997.
This also represents ZANARDI’s eighth podium finish in the last nine
starts. ZANARDI’s fourth-place at Vancouver was his only off-podium
finish during this streak. (ZANARDI withdrew at California Speedway
and therefore that did not count as a start.)
MARLBORO GRAND PRIX OF MIAMI PRESENTED BY TOYOTA No. 18 FedEx
Championship Series Press Notes – Sunday, March 15, 1998
· GREG MOORE’s second-place finish represents his career-best finish
at Homestead and his third top-seven finish in three starts at
Homestead. MOORE finished fourth in the 1997 Grand Prix of Miami. It
was also his best finish overall since a second place at Mid-Ohio in
1997.
· MICHAEL ANDRETTI’s victory is his 37th career win, tops in CART
history. ANDRETTI is fourth on the all-time Championship Car victory
list. This is his first CART victory since Homestead last year.
ANDRETTI has won three of the last five season openers. ANDRETTI
opened the 1994 season with a victory at Australia, and opened the
1997 and 1998 seasons at Homestead with wins. The last driver to win
back-to-back season openers before ANDRETTI’s performance today was
RICK MEARS at Phoenix in 1989 and 1990. The ANDRETTI family has won
eight CART season-opening races. Mario won 4 times, Michael has won
three, and cousin John took one.
· The victory also is Goodyear’s first win since PAUL TRACY came home
first in St. Louis in 1997.
· Today’s race placed three different engine manufacturers on the
podium. ANDRETTI won with a Ford powerplant, while MOORE’s Mercedes
took second, and ZANARDI’s Honda took third.
· Driver quotes from today’s Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by
Toyota follow.
· MICHAEL ANDRETTI, Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford: "The car ran
really well especially from about midway on. After that I just tried
to conserve tires. My tires held up really well. They were really
strong there in the end. (On MOORE’s attempt to pass in the end) My
car was very good through [Turns] 3 and 4 at the end of the race, so I
was able to take it in pretty deep. I didn’t think he could get a run
on me.
· "I almost messed up on one pit stop. I almost stalled and nearly
spun trying to beat Alex [Zanardi] out. It was just one of those days
when it’s your day … We have a good setup on ovals with the Swift.
It’s looking very good for us, even on street and road courses. I
think Goodyear will be strong, too. I’m really looking forward to the
[street] and road races."
· GREG MOORE, Player’s/Indeck Reynard Mercedes: "Michael was a little
bit quicker than I was in clean air. With 10 laps to go, Steve
Challis, my engineer, came on [the radio] and said, ‘Do you think you
have something for him?’ I said, ‘In traffic, I think we do.’ I think
we could have won the race with one more lap, but second place is a
good way to start the season, we just have to get them in Japan."
· ALEX ZANARDI, Target Reynard Honda: "We set up the car in a way
which was going to be consistent. We set it up for long runs, and
before we went yellow for the last time, I was in a position to catch
Michael, so I’m kind of disappointed, but it’s a good result to start
the season."